Question

【題目】It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson's famous comment that “When two English meet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnson's observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather speak.

Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that “To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost un-known in the British Isles.

Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. “The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.

Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually tal to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank “fillers “. In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding.

【1】 The author mentions Dr. Johnson's comment to show that _________.

A. most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson

B. Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation

C. the comment was accurate two hundred years ago

D. English conversations usually start with the weather

【2】 What does the underlined word “obsession “most probably refer to?

A. A social trend. B. An emotional state.

C. A historical concept. D. An unknown phenomenon.

【3】 According to the passage, Jeremy Paxman believes that _________.

A. Bill Bryson has little knowledge of the weather

B. there is nothing special about the English weather

C. the English weather attracts people to the British Isles

D. English people talk about the weather for its uncertainty

【4】 What is the author's main purpose of writing the passage?

A. To explain what English weather-speak is about.

B. To analyse misconceptions about the English weather.

C. To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman.

D. To convince people that the English weather is changeable.

Answer 1

【答案】【1】D

【2】B

【3】D

【4】A

【解析】【1】 推理判斷題。第一段作者首先提出英國(guó)人見面談?wù)撎鞖膺@一現(xiàn)象，接著就給出了 Dr. Johnson的評(píng)論，由此可判斷引用Dr. Johnson評(píng)論的目的是說明這一現(xiàn)象的普遍，故選D項(xiàng)。

【2】 詞義猜測(cè)題。第二段提到Bill Bryson認(rèn)為由于英國(guó)的天氣一點(diǎn)也不讓人興奮，所以人們見面就談天氣的這種癡迷令人費(fèi)解�？赏茢鄌bsession的意思可能是“癡迷”，是一種情感狀態(tài)，故選B。A:社會(huì)趨勢(shì); B:情感狀態(tài); C:歷史概念; D:未知現(xiàn)象。

【3】 推理判斷題。根據(jù)第三段中" The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty. " 可知人們見面談?wù)撎鞖獾呐d趣不在天氣本身，而在于天氣的不確定性，故選D。

【4】 主旨大意題。文章第一段首先引出英國(guó)人見面愛談天氣的現(xiàn)象，第二和第三段分別闡述了 Bill Bryson和Jeremy Paxman對(duì)這一現(xiàn)象的兩種相反觀點(diǎn)，最后一段提出了自己的觀點(diǎn)：英國(guó)人見面談?wù)撎鞖馐巧缃坏囊环N手段，可判斷文章的寫作目的是剖析英國(guó)人見面談天氣的原因。